Title

Author

Degree

Master of Science

Program

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Supervisor(s)

Dr. Dianne Bryant

Abstract

Approximately 45% of referrals from primary care physicians to arthroplasty surgeons are inappropriate. Currently, Canadians are waiting over three months for consultation with an arthroplasty surgeon. Reducing the proportion of inappropriate referrals will reduce the wait time to first consultation with an arthroplasty surgeon. This study’s objective was to validate a model that identified patient-reported predictors of appropriate referrals to arthroplasty. We screened 258 patients attending their first consultation with an arthroplasty surgeon. Participants completed the questionnaires prior to their appointment and the surgeon detailed each consultation outcome on a standardized form. We constructed our validation model using the same variables as the original model. We showed that the original model was valid by demonstrating that the parameters, the fit, and the discriminative abilities of both models were similar. Future research should examine the effectiveness of patient-reported radiological results as a predictor of appropriate referral to total knee arthroplasty.